"Alright..." Shade said in an exhausted voice, he was clearly sick of running so much. "I think we lost them. For now at least." Shade looked back into the tunnel as he left said Tunnel. Besides Thunder, who now trotted past him as he left, nothing was to be seen or heard.

"Don't you think we're done yet, Shade." Thunder said in a complaining voice. "I won't just ignore and forget the fact that you believe Chrysalis is a 'good changeling'. Even after all I've told you."

Shade turned to Shade and looked him in the eyes for a brief moment. He wanted to engage him, wanted to defend the very person that saved his life....but he knew it wasn't right. It wouldn't lead to anything anyway. "We should get inside. It's getting late." Was all Shade decided to say to him as he broke eye contact and moved on to the very wall that was the door to his home.

As Shade lowered said wall and entered, Thunder interrupted him. He grabbed one of Shade's hind legs and said "Shade, please. You can't just shrug all these facts off like that." Shade once again looked at him, his face still showed the same serious expression as before. "...Shade...please. I know you've been here for a long time and I haven't been but...come on, you have to open your eyes!" Shade was unmoved. He shook off Thunder's hoof and entered his home, not saying a word to Thunder. Thunder stood still, frozen in place as his best friend simply would not trust him. Even worse, he would rather have trust in an evil bug that wanted to invade Equestria.

As Thunder stood in the entrance, noises could be heard. Thunder, lost in thought and sadness at that moment, shrugged them off, not even noticing them at first. Shade, however, did notice them. He himself froze in place for a moment as he first heard the sound. It was buzzing. The same buzzing that pursued them earlier. "They must have heard us..." He said to himself, loud enough so Thunder could have heard it, but Thunder was still not paying any attention to his surroundings. "Thunder! Move out of the way! We've gotta hide now!" Shade said in a loud voice.

Thunder was still unmoved. His head was lowered and he kept mumbling things to himself. Shade's eyes began to twitch at the seeming incompetence of his friend. He really didn't need that now. "Move Thunder!" He yelled. Once again, no reaction. Shade was about to lose his temper as he decided to use his magic to lift him up and levitate him right next to him. Shade looked at the still mute Thunder as he closed up the entrance to his home. His home was now seemingly concealed again, a simple wall, nothing more. He was sure whoever it was that was chasing them wouldn't find them here.

Unfortunatly he was wrong.

"Queen's Guard, open up!" said a deep voice on the outside of the wall. He must have yelled loud enough for his voice to be audible on the other side of the wall.

"The Queen's Guard...why would they look for us? I don't have an appointment with Chrysalis or anyone connected with her today." Said thought to himself as panic built up in his body. Suddenly, he realized why they might be looking for them. "Thunder...he must have done something to attract attention. Maybe he was seen sneaking around alone. That'd be against the rules of the Hive. An ex-pony rookie like him can't just run around freely, he could cause problems...and I'd be punished for it too! I'm his teacher!" If he wasn't panicing now, he surely was now. He grabbed Thunder why his throat and said "What. did you. do." He tried to keep his voice low so that the guards outside wouldn't hear them arguing, but it was more than hard for him to do so in a situation like this.

Thunder's eyes drifted off towards the door as the guards once again knocked on the wall. "Who's that?" Thunder asked as if he had no idea what had happened in the last 30 seconds.

Shade's right eye twitched as he replied to him: "Oh, It's Princess Luna! She's here to marry you." Shade's sarcasm switched over to seriousness. "It's the Queen's guard, you donkey! It's Chrysalis' personal guard! They are looking for us!"

Thunder cocked his head as he asked: "Looking for us? Why?"

Shade was lucky he had no hair as a changeling, otherwise it would have fallen out through all the stress by now. "I was about to ask you that question! What. did you. do!?"

Thunder once again looked over to the wall as the guards were growing impatient. "I didn't do anything. I wasn't seen either. Even then, you wouldn't believe me anyway, would you?" Thunder replied in a deep voice.

Shade paid no attention to the latter sentence, he was too sick of that topic to really care at this point. "You must have done something to attract attention obviously! I swear, if you-" Shade's sentence was cutoff as the guards yelled from the outside once again.

"Last chance! Open up or we'll come in with force!"

Shade looked at Thunder once more, dead serious, before he turned to the entrance. His horn lit up in a dark color and the wall magically lowered itself once more. As it did, it revealed a group of guards. 4 armored and armed guards. "You have to excuse me, my...friend kind of held me back."

One of the guards stepped forward and spoke up. "Are you the one they call Shade?" He asked in a deep voice. Shade noticed it must have been the same changeling that yelled to them from the outside of the wall before.

"Um, indeed I am. Dark wizard of the Hive. Why are you asking?" Shade tried not to sound too nervous while saying that.

"We are looking for you and your protegee. Order from the Queen. You are to report at the Queen at once." The guard said in his typical deep, unemotional voice.

Shade gulped as he looked over to Thunder who stood behind him. "Um...sure. Will do. You go ahead, we'll be there in a shortly." Shade said as he faced the guards again.

The guard now leaned over to Shade with a serious look. "At once." The guard replied. "We will escort you to the Throne room right away. If the Queen wants to see you then we better not let her wait."

Shade was about to loose his mind, he was sure the worst was about to happen. The Queen...wanted to talk with him and Thunder...after all this...something bad must have happened...and they would be punished for it!

He had no choice. The Queen ordered it, he had to go. "Yes...of course. Let's get moving right away then..." He said as he waved over Thunder. Thunder was not fond of visiting the Queen himself, he knew what she was up to after all. This might just be a giant trap to get rid off people who know too much about her plans. Then again, he didn't have much of a choice. He was a part of the lunar guard for long enough to know that he didn't have any chance to escape in a situation like this.

"Very well, follow our lead then." The guards turned around, leading both Thunder and Shade into a Tunnel that would eventually lead to the Throne room, where Chrysalis was already awaiting their arrival. As Shade stopped to close up the entrance to his home once more, Thunder stopped next to him briefly and whispered into his ear: "I swear I'm not responsible for this but...let's hope we get out of it alive."

Shade looked towards him for a moment, replying with: "Yeah...let's hope so..." and then moved on to the tunnel, Thunder following closely behind him.